Many people ask me how I know what chords to go to when I m playing a song by ear.
First you must realize that it s all about hearing the chord changes during a song. If you listen to the radio, you have to realize that every song you hear doesn t have just ONE chord that is played throughout the song. In fact, songs that involve many different types of chords are very beautiful. So, when you play by ear, you must train your ear to hear when you need to switch chords. Which chord you change to will come easier as you learn chord patterns that are the same among many songs and how to train your ear to hear what chord will come next. That is a great start.
And yet, that is not the only thing you must know in order to play by ear. Even though it is very helpful, you must also possess a knowledge of the piano (scales, chords, etc.). Here s some things to know in order to know what chords to go to when playing a song by ear.
1. Learn the major scales and chords first in order to be able to change between chords quickly.
2. Learn the three major chords that are typically used for each key and be able to move to and from each of them quickly.
3. Learn the pattern that many songs follow among the three major chords for the key you are playing in.
That pattern is: *1 *4 *1 *5 *1
Another common pattern is: *1 *4 *1 *2 *5 *1 *4 *1 *5 *1
4. Using the three major chords, sing the melody to songs you know and change between them, using your ear to decide which chord will come next. You can also do this with your favorite songs on a CD.
Using these four steps will help you train your ear to hear the chord changes. Then, as you begin learning many other types of chords (such as minor, augmented, seventh, major7, sixth, second, etc.) and when to use them, you ll be able to hear where they go as well.
For example, many songs that are played using the *1 *4 *1 *5 *1 chord change can be spiced up using the following chord changes: (Note: m stands for minor)
*1 *1seven *4 *1 *3m *2seven *5 *1
Training your ear to hear chord changes before you make them takes time and practice. The more you do it, the easier it gets. The more familiar you are with different chords, the more you have to choose from to try in songs where the other chords you have tried just don t seem to go.
It is important that you should become familiar with the chords so that it will be easier for you to play songs in the piano. And when you are already familiar just by hearing the chords, you then now can learn to play piano using actual songs. Just take time to practice and i’m sure you will succeed.
Author Resource:
Log on to http://www.learnpianoreview.com to know more about chord changes. Find the best online course on rocket piano at http://www.learnpianoreview.com/rocket-piano.aspx .
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